University of the Arts' POLYPHONE FESTIVAL Will Return for a Sixth Year

University of the Arts' Ira Brind School of Theater Arts has announced the lineup for the sixth annual Polyphone, a "festival of the emerging musical." The 5-day festival will take place in the Arts Bank and Wilma Theater on Broad Street in Philadelphia, April 7-11, 2020.

The four musicals in the 2020 festival will journey through the streets of a contemporary American city under threat from those in power, a teen dance-a-thon to the death with demon DJs, colliding worlds of youth protest and parental control in an underwater mer-society, and an iconic Thunderbird suspended above the Grand Canyon. All of the works in this year's Polyphone reside in the intersection of queerness, youth, otherness, and coming-of-age stories. The works all ask questions about how our individual and collective identities form in response to pressure from our rapidly shifting world.

Polyphone brings together artists-in-training, composers, librettists, choreographers, and directors developing new works. Each musical is presented as a stripped-down, staged concert performance with a full band, inviting audiences into the world of a musical while the ink is still drying on the score. The festival culminates in a marathon of musicals, Saturday, April 11, with all four shows running in succession from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

This year's Polyphone will feature performances of four new works including:

Akira & the Merpeople

Book and Lyrics by Claire Tran

Music by Teresa Lotz

Directed by Rebecca Wright

Don't Stop Me

Book by Krista Knight

Music by Dave Malloy

Lyrics by Krista Knight and Dave Malloy

Directed and Choreographed by Chloe Treat

Red & Black

Co-conceived and written by Sheridan Merrick and Nick Hatcher

Co-Directed by Sam Tower and Nick Hatcher

With additional material by Courtney Bird, Cam Harrigan, Hallie Nowicki, Lydia Williams, David B. Thomas, and Mae Waldron

TL;DR: Thelma, Louise; Dyke Remix

Book and Lyrics by EllaRose Chary

Music and Lyrics by Brandon James Gwinn

Directed by Sherri Eden Barber

with Associate Director Rose Freeman

All performances will take place at the Wilma Theater (265 S. Broad Street) and the Arts Bank (601 S. Broad Street) which are located in the heart of Philadelphia on the Avenue of the Arts.

Purchase tickets at tickets.uarts.edu.

ONLINE SALES BEGIN MARCH 17.

$15 General Admission; $10 discount tickets for industry professionals, students and seniors; FREE for the UArts Community with an online discount code or UArts ID at the door

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